Cailey Calisi, Photo courtesy of ericaseye.com
From the tranquil beaches of Cape Cod, comes fiery newcomer and gifted actor, Cailey Calisi. Although she hails as a native Cape Codder, Cailey has spent the past year acclimating to the Boston area and as a member of the Hollywood East Actor’s Group, she’s been privileged to meet and work with many of the great local talent that the area employs.
Cailey discovered her love of acting through theatre while on Cape Cod. Her first role as Ophelia/Laurie in Magic Time at Cape Cod Community College was like baptism by fire. It was her first opportunity to work in an ensemble cast of experienced actors that had great chemistry. “It was such a wonderful initiation and camaraderie that I continually seek that level of acting cohesion in each part I take.” The play received favorable reviews and Cailey’s performance was described as “the shining light of the show”. Following this, she quickly received roles in productions with the Wellfleet Actors Theatre as well as Cotuit Center for the Arts.
Her most challenging role was that of Desdemona in a same sex relationship casting of Othello. Taking the role a mere two weeks before opening, her performance won her rave reviews in the local theatre community and further fueled her acting desire.
Cailey describes her acting philosophy stemming from a deep spiritual belief best articulated by Leo Buscaglia “your talent is God’s gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God.”
Cailey on the set of Norman Lang’s REVELATION. Photo courtesy of Richard Widmack Belot.
She goes on to say, “I feel everything so intensely. It’s both a blessing and a curse to feel everything so deeply.” She draws strength for each role after having experienced her own bout of serious depression in adolescence. “My mother and I moved somewhere new every few years and I was always the new kid. My father didn’t have anything to do with me either, so that, combined with having experienced bullying while in high school, contributed to me feeling isolated and depressed“.
She attributes her acting as a form of therapy. “It gave me a passion for life after years of being depressed and alone. I used to constantly worry, but now I hold the belief, ‘why blend in, when you can stand out. My passion for acting shines from the inside out, and when I’m in that zone, I radiate!” Her ultimate goal is to be a pioneering feature film actress.
She wants to use her acting to spread the message, especially to underprivileged youth, that you can do and be anything you want. It takes courage, hard work, perseverance and faith but ultimately, you become what you believe and envision yourself to be.
REVELATION shot of Cailey. You can see director Norman Lang in the background. Photo courtesy Richard Widmack Belot.
One tremendous influence on Cailey was meeting Academy Award nominated actress Jessica Chastain. Cailey had the opportunity to talk with Ms. Chastain and briefly told her what her dreams and goals were, and how inspired she was by Jessica herself. Ms. Chastain told her she hoped to work together one day and that she was looking forward to seeing her on the silver screen. On departing, she told Cailey to never give up and looked forward to the day they could work together.
Cailey also had the wonderful opportunity to flex her acting muscles when she played a possessed woman in a book trailer directed by Rhode Island cinematographer, Rajah Samaroo and author, Tara Mantel. Working with independent filmmaker Norman Lang on his production of REVELATION was a recent triumph of Cailey’s . In REVELATION, she plays an eager reporter searching the scientific reasons for the meaning of life after death.
One of her proudest achievements was being cast in Seth Chitwood’s web series, In the Bedroom. In the Bedroom was a huge collaborative effort from a talented team of filmmakers from all over New England. In her episode, Cailey portrays a woman who may or may not, be a figment of imagination in another character’s mind.
Ultimately, Cailey will continue to hone her craft here in Boston and acknowledges she has a long way to go, especially since she plans to eventually relocate to LA. She states “What matters most is looking back and being proud of what you overcame and accomplished to get where you want to be.” She states, “wait and see, when I’m on the Oscar podium, it’s you I’ll be talking to…. all of Boston and New England….this is no dress rehearsal.”
Cailey can be reached at [email protected].
